Breakfast on Adelaide to Brisbane Qantas in Business Class

I had spent the past week away in the desert only to get home with under twelve hours to clean, pack and sleep. It was an early wakeup for the 6 AM flight out of Adelaide to Brisbane. Although I used to fly Qantas between these two cities frequently, it was seldom direct and only once in business class on a evening service in the opposite direction last year. They only offer a handful of daily flights on this route and weekends have even fewer, hence I used to frequently rotate through Sydney or Melbourne.

It’s been a while since I’ve had an early morning departure and in a way I missed it. I’m no commuter, having only ever travelled for leisure. The early morning departures still have some novelty for me and being a weekend it meant less chance of being drowned out by the dreary suit zombie brigade. In general I haven’t flown much this year but this was the start of a large trip across continents so I was very much looking forward to it more than usual.

New Check-in Automation

It was my first use of ‘next generation’ check-in, as they market it. This means you can just tap your card to check-in and bag weighing and tagging is self-served and automated. Maybe it was early and I had underslept, but it wasn’t a great first impression. There remains a premium line for business class and platinum/golds, which makes me doubly eligible, the staff were rather insistent you did not. I begrudgingly used the machines but it didn’t work too well, particularly as I had a lot of luggage. I also threw out the thermal printed boarding pass so I could get a ‘proper’ one from the lounge. They don’t fade after a few weeks.

I briefly visited the Adelaide Qantas Club, but as a frequent visitor have become accustomed to rather miserly food offerings. Today I noticed a significantly better breakfast menu which was a surprise. The buffet resembled something closer to the continental options at the Melbourne business lounge lounge. There was an appearance of the pancake machine which I had first seen in the Air New Zealand Sydney lounge and was apparently being implemented in many Qantas lounges. After promoting an improved dining experience, maybe they finally got to Adelaide, it was definitely a noticeable improvement.

Boarding

I arrive to gate early but it was as bad as ever. No rush however, because I would be gone for a whole month, unusually I had family there to see me off. Slightly odd experience for me actually.

At this stage Qantas has yet to implement priority boarding lanes domestically and it remains a top complaint for many of their frequent travellers. I personally find it to board last, although if in economy this may limit storing your onboard baggage. I eventually made my way on board the stock B737-800 to be warmly greeted took my seat in 1F. My seat preference in the morning was mostly dictated by blocking the sunrise, if you sit at the window you control the blind. Fortunately the cabin wasn’t full so I had the seat adjacent free. Not really a surprise for a early weekend morning, most people from Adelaide would be leisure travellers taking a short holiday, going to watch football etc.

Onboard

Pre departure drinks are served. The mango apple or strawberry apple juices they serve in mornings are quite nice and I buy the same brand myself at home.

Nothing new but legroom is restricted in the front row with the bulkhead. In this sense the second row can often be preferable.

Breakfast was the standard affair for Q J before. Decent food, not that Qantas economy breakfasts are terrible unless you really want a hot breakfast onboard. I find the cold options as good as on the ground and leave the hot food for the lounges. My new love has been the strawberry apple juice, if they don’t offer it I’ll ask and they usually have it onboard. Another thing of comparison is the method of food service. QF have a slow but fairly personal method of serving one by one through the J cabin, half trolley half galley.

Arriving

Unfortunately I was somewhat stuck in Brisbane domestic for a couple hours waiting for my friend to arrive from Sydney on Virgin Blue.

I did spend what time I could in the Qantas lounge before having to go downstairs and retrieve by luggage. I was transporting not just my own stuff, so wasn’t going anywhere. Fortunately it did not weigh as much as it looks with the largest bag basically empty.

I will be staying in Brisbane for a few days before leaving Australia.